Welcome to the first installment of HRIC’s new podcast series. We begin with a segment that looks at the complex relationship between Hong Kongers and mainlanders at this critical historical juncture.

Last year in Hong Kong, during the Umbrella Movement, over 100,000 people came out to demand genuine universal suffrage and democratization. Their extraordinary community spirit and creativity attracted widespread international attention. And despite intense censorship, the Movement even generated online expressions of support from mainland netizens.

Since the beginning of this year, suppression of activists inside mainland China has expanded in July into a crackdown of unprecedented scale on lawyers and defenders.

In Hong Kong, despite growing cultural conflicts between locals and mainlanders, people still came out to publically support the detained lawyers, signaling a continuing recognition that the democratic futures of both Hong Kong and the mainland are inextricably connected.

Earlier this summer, HRIC embarked on a listening exercise and spoke with a diverse group of people in Hong Kong including students, legislators, journalists, activists, and other concerned citizens.

The first voice we hear is that of a local human rights activist, who outlines three main positions on how Hong Kongers view mainlanders.